Minggu, 16 Mei 2010

Wanna Taste the Real Kopi Luwak

Okay, I’ll admit it. I was wrong.

Some time back I got all excited after having Kopi Luwak, the most expensive coffee in the world. While the real Kopi Luwak IS indeed the most precious and valued coffee bean in the world, the fact that its authenticity is difficult to verify has given rise to people selling fake or diluted coffee at high prices. Sadly, what I had wasn’t the real thing at all!

But now, I’m proud to say that I have tasted the truly authentic Kopi Luwak.

If you’re wondering, what the heck is this “Kopi Luwak”, it is none other than the most extraordinary and expensive coffee in the world. You can hardly find it anywhere, and when you do, the real thing would cost you upward of $50 per cup! I kid you not!

I have your attention now? Good. By the end of this post, you’ll find out how you can get some of these extraordinary coffee for yourself!

Real Kopi Luwak (civet coffee)

Basically, this animal known as the civet eats only the most delicious coffee berries (the same way my cat eats only the most delicious fish). The coffee beans go through a special fermentation process in the creature’s belly, and come out undigested in the poop. Pesky humans then look through the civets’ number twos to collect the precious beans. These are thoroughly cleaned and roasted and sold at astronomical prices.

Civet coffee is produced only in a few parts of Southeast Asia, with just 500 kilograms of it produced worldwide annually. Due to such exclusivity, a pound of it costs between US$100 and US$600, easily making it the most expensive coffee in the world!

Thanks to Alberto Taphanel who is based in Bali, Indonesia, the homeland of Kopi Luwak, I had a chance to taste some of his Real Kopi Luwak. Here’s a little story on how he came to produce his own genuine Kopi Luwak:

The more producers I contacted, the more I realized that around Kopi Luwak industry there is a lot of fraud. Some producers said that they had the most inexpensive Kopi Luwak, others said that they were the only ones who have it or have the purest one. I bought samples of each producer and finally I found out that they were not offering me the real Kopi Luwak. As this coffee is very expensive, many unscrupulous people mix or fake it and the final result is totally different from the original, including the price.

Finally, I reached the conclusion that the only way to have the authentic Kopi Luwak coffee was first to obtain the raw material from the plantations and second, to process and roast it by myself. After many tests, I could obtain the real Kopi Luwak.

Alberto sent us some of his precious Kopi Luwak bean. These arrive in airtight packages. After brewing, there’s this wonderful aroma that permeates the whole house for hours after you have drank all the coffee! So much so that even after I leave the house and come back in the evening, I can still smell it the moment I step through the door. I don’t recall having any other coffee that produces as strong an aroma as this. It’s pretty incredible.

Even Snowy, our family cat, loves the smell of the coffee. We found him sneaking into the kitchen and sniffing the packets of Kopi Luwak many times!

For a coffee that is so strong smelling, it tastes very smooth and light, but still has that rich coffee flavor. You have to taste it for yourself! You can read more about Kopi Luwak and make your purchase at Real Kopi Luwak.

Win the Kopi Luwak for yourself!

For now, Alberto has graciously made available some of these beans to be given out to our readers. Yes, you heard that right. You have the rare opportunity to taste the real 100% Kopi Luwak yourself! Here’s how: